Apparatus for shipping metal



June '18, 1935. w. c. TAMPLIN 2,005,117

APPARATUS FOR SHIPPING METAL Filed Sept. 21, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1' [men/0r: /4 /LL/4M C 7ZJMPL w,

June 18, 1935. w, c. TAMPLIN 1 APPARATUS FOR SHIPPING METAL;

Filled Sept. 21, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lnvenlor Wag/QM C. 7Z/MPL Patented June 18, 1935 UNITED STATES -APPARATUS FOR SHIPPING METAL William G. Tamplin, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to American Sheet and Tin Plate Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application September 21, 1933, Serial No. 690,485

' 2 Claims. (Cl. 206-60) This invention relates to an apparatus for supporting packs of metal sheets during transportation in railway cars and the like, and while not limited thereto, relates particularly to an apparatus for supporting packs of steel sheets, and has for one of its objects the provision of an apparatus particularly designed to protect the bottommost sheet of the pack of sheets against damage resulting from moisture or other corrosive or mechanical damaging elements.

The packs of sheets to which this invention relate are generally enclosed in aheavy non-.metallic waterproof wrapping, supported on suitable wooden supports and the wrapped pack and supports are bound together in a unit by steel bands or wires, a

Heretofore it has generally been the practice to provide the top and bottom of the packs of sheets with what are'technically known in mill parlance as waster sheets. These sheets have considerable commercial value when further processed, so as to be usable for other purposes than that for which they were originally'designed. Provision of waster sheets as the top and bottom sheets of thepacks protect the prime or perfect sheets of the pack. However, such waster sheets were expensive to the manufacturer or shipper for the reason that over a period of time these sheets amount to considerable tonnage. The amount of loss in the waster sheets will be more readily appreciated when it is understood that some packsare composed of very large sheets, such as for example sheets 72 to 84" in width and 120" to 160" in length'having from 16 to 24 USS gages. In an attempt to eliminatev the expensive use of waster sheets manufacturers and shippers have provided heavier and more expensive wrappings for thepacks and have applied an expensive and heavy oil coating particularly to the bottom and top sheets of the packs. However, in spite of this precautionary measure experience has shown that during transit the bottom sheets and the top sheets, in case the packs are arranged one on top of the other with wooden spacers between them, become corroded and damaged so that the purchaser, upon the receipt of the packs of sheets, would reject the outer sheets. The wooden supporting members and spacing members on which the packs of the sheets rest have a tendency to absorb moisture and this moisture in connection with the acid inherent in the wood and the chemical reactions resulting from the combinaton of this moisture with grit and other foreign matter may penetrate the so-called waterproof wrappings of a package, even though the wrapping is unbroken. However, the. damage is greatly increased when the wrapping is'broken in transit.

The present'apparatus. overcomes all of the above disadvantages of the prior art methods of shipping the packs of sheets'and reduces the cost 5 of shipping material.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is perspective of the device of the vention in use. f

Figure 2 is a view similarto Figure 1, showing various details of construction.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of a modified form of the invention.

Figure 4 is a detail, shown partly in section.

Figure 5 isla fragmentary end view of the detail of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a sectional detail crime of Figure 4.

Figures 7 and 8 are views similar to Figure 6, o a modified detail of construction. v

Figure 9 is a side elevation of amodiflcation of Figures 7 and 8. g I 3 The reference letter F designates the floor of a railway car or other vehicle on which are arranged woo'den spacing blocksor elongatedsupporting members W. The supporting members W are generally composed of lengths of standard 2x4', lumber and are arranged to form an overall supporting area substantially eqdalwith the area of the pa ck of plates or sheets to be supported. v The supports ,W may be blocked on the floor F of the vehicle, if desired to prevent shift"- ing of the assembled pack. However, such blockingis not essential. The supporting members are in every instance adapted to be of such'size as to provide a space [bet-ween thebottom of-the pack of sheets and the floor of the vehicle to permit the insertion of loading or unloading hooks or tractor prongs. Longitudinally extending steel 0 bands B extend under the longitudinally arranged supports and are adapted to be secured over the pack of wrapped sheets to bind the whole assembly together as a unit. 7

In order to space the pack of sheets or plates 45 from the wooden supporting members W, metal spacing members A are secured to the wooden supports W. The spacers A are generally composed of sheet or strip steel, but any other moisture-resisting material of satisfactory strength 50 may be substituted. The spacers A may be of various shapes and sizes and may be applied to both the transverse and longitudinal supporting members, or to only the longitudinal or the tran verse supporting members, as'desircd.

line 'VI--VI the transverse supporting members W.

A modified form of spacing member A is shown consisting'of relatively short lengths of flat sheets or plates adapted to be mounted on the upper face only of the supporting members W.

A further modification may be provided as shown at A in which the spacing members are provided with flanges having their free edges bent inwardly, as at 20, to provide anchoring means adapted to be driven into the sides of the wooden supporting members W.

In practice it has been shown that spacing members used in accordance with this invention will prevent corrosion, discoloration or other damage to the outer sheets of a pack when formed of very thin-material, for example, while spacing members composed of IS gage stock'are e preferable, as low as 28 gage stock is satisfactory.

In Figure 3 I have shown a further use of spacer members on vertical supports. Referring particularly to this figure the letter P is used to designate a pack of sheets or plates assembled as described above, and the letter I? isused to designate a pack of smaller sheets or plates mounted on top of the packP. In order to prevent the smalle'r pack P from shifting relative to the large pack P, I have provided vertical wooden supporting elements I which are arranged in line with the wooden supporting members W of the large pack P and having their lower side facesabutting the ends of the supporting members W. The members I extend abovethe top face of the pack 1?, and horizontal wooden supporting members 2 are arranged between the projecting portions of the supporting members I and theend and side edge faces of the small pack P In order to prevent corrosion and marking of the sheets of the large pack P the supporting members l and 2 are provided with metal spacing members H of the same construction as the spacers A, previously'described. In order to hold the supporting'members l and 2 and the pack P in assembled position, steel bands X are secured around, the assembled packs and over-lie the supporting "members.

specific embodiments of my invention it will be understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto, since various modifications may be made withoutdepartingfrom' the scope of my invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A pack of metal sheets arranged for transport comprising a plurality of assembled prime sheets arranged one on top of the other, a nonmetallic water-proof wrapping enclosing said assembled sheets, transverse means for securing said assembled and wrapped sheets together as a unit, spaced 'wooden supporting elements disposed longitudinally under said unit, spaced wooden supporting elements disposed between said unit and said longitudinally disposed supporting elements and arranged transversely with respect to the latter, separate metal spacing elements arranged at spaced intervals along the length of said transversely disposed supporting elements, each of said metal spacing elements being disposed wholly below said unit of assembled and wrapped sheets and contiguous thereto, and means extending along said longitudinally disposed supporting elements for securing the same to said unit of assembled and wrapped sheets. 1

2. A pack of metal sheets arranged for transport comprising a plurality of assembled prime sheets arranged one on top of the other, a nonmetallic water-proof wrapping enclosing said assembled sheets,'transverse means for securing said assembled and wrapped sheets together as as unit, asimilarly assembled and wrapped pack of smaller sheets disposed on said unit, spaced wooden supporting elements dis'posedlongitudinally under said unit, spaced wooden supporting elements disposed between said unit and said longitudinally disposed supporting elements and arranged transversely with respect to the latter, separate metal spacing elements arranged at spaced intervals along the length of said trans versely disposed supporting elements, each of said metal spacing elements being disposed wholly below said unit of assembled and wrapped sheets andrcontiguous thereto, at least one vertically' disposed and spaced wooden supporting element on each side of said first named unit, a separate spacing element between each of said vertically disposed supporting elements and said pack of' smaller-sheets. means connected with-said verr' tically disposed supporting elements for maintaining said pack of smaller sheets in position, separate metal spacingelements' disposed between said last named meansandsaid pack of smaller sheets, separate metal spacing elements I unit, means extending along said longitudinally t V disposed supporting elements for securing the While I have shown and oescrlbed certain same and said unit together, and means extenddisposed between said last namedmeans and said ing along said vertically disposed wooden sup porting elements. and said means connected thereto for securing said unit and said pack of smaller sheets'together. v 7

WILLIAM C; TAMPLIN. 

